Can spelling improve your long-term memory? Perhaps. Spelling is a complex cognitive learning activity that brings together many brain functions. The speller has to be able to store information about a word in both short- and long-term memory; they have to know how to read and write the words; and they have to be able to learn to spell words correctly using phonological and etymological clues. Spelling is not just for children, obviously! Adults who are learning to spell new words can in fact boost their memory performance as this process exercises the brain.
Many people believe that since computers and other devices can spell or spellcheck for us then spelling should become less of a priority in schools. If an online app can trace and auto-correct your misspellings, why waste so many hours learning the difference between words such as “principle” and “principal”, or “effect” and “affect”? And do you really have to learn how to spell “lachrymose” to be successful?
Ultimate Spelling™, a software developed by self-development software company eReflect, helps people of all ages learn how to spell. The system is especially attractive to younger spellers because the software helps users to learn how to spell through a series of fun and learning-oriented games and activities. Spelling can improve long-term memory in children as well as adults, since in the process of learning how to spell a word the speller puts to work various cognitive processes, including those associated with language processing and information storing.
When a speller is learning to write down a word with its proper spelling, they are utilizing their kinesthetic and cognitive faculties to do so. Learning to spell is a demanding cognitive exercise, because the speller has to coordinate the senses of sight and sound as well as motor skills in order to learn how a word is pronounced, spelled, and written.
Making the connection between how the concept of a house is spelled “house” and pronounced “/hous/” and connecting that to the fact that spelling out the word means that the pen-holding hand has to go through the same motor sequence every time involves multiple areas of the brain. However, even this complex process is something that we start to master at a young age and at a fairly impressive rate. When we move onto more complex words, it’s even easier to understand the true role of long-term memory in developing spelling skills.
Which is the correct spelling?
“airloom” – “heirloom”
“alegance” – “allegiance”
“crusifixion” – “crucifiction”
“Leprecan” – “leprechaun”
You can practice these and many other words many times but unless you effectively store their orthography into your long-term memory, you will always be in doubt whether there’s a silent “h” in “rhyme” or not.
Spelling cements words into our long-term memory, and it allows us to store thousands of words in a photographic-like manner, so that when we chat or write these words down, we instantly understand how the sounds corresponds to letters and the letters to meaning.
Many parents fear that their children will find spelling difficult to learn, and that it can never be truly mastered. This is far from the truth, however. Spelling can be both quickly and easily mastered given the right tools and guidance are available to the speller.
State-of-the-art programs like Ultimate Spelling™, that are based on the latest research and spelling technology, ensure the student becomes a proficient speller that adeptly utilizes all of the various cognitive faculties involved to ensure that accurate spelling is a skill that will stay with them for the rest of their life.
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